Tuesday, 16 February 2010

RECOMMENDED: Baobinga - Ride It/Ride It (Untold Remix) [BUILD]

Untold’s 'Gonna Work Out Fine EP' was a floor stopper, the instigator of countless “what the fuck is this?” moments in the middle of a night. But if ‘Stop What You’re Doing’ is still enough to halt a dancefloor in its tracks entirely, it’s a soft and welcoming hug compared with some of the tracks he’s been piecing together since. ‘Bad Girls,’ his contribution to Fabric’s Elevator Music compilation, jerked back and forth like an unruly child having a full-on temper tantrum, and his remix of Baobinga’s ‘Ride It’ hits the neural circuits so hard it’s nigh on impossible to tell whether that’s pleasure or pain hitting your gut. An exercise in barely restrained dementia, the track’s central drum motif circles in an ever-tightening loop around trademark Untold bass stabs and twisting, pained sampleplay. It’s intense to the point of inducing nausea, and I’m still trying to work out whether that’s entirely a good thing.

Next to such a wonderfully sadistic piece of work, Baobinga’s original never quite stood a chance. Which is a shame in a way, as it’s an addictive – if slightly straightforward – march through what-u-call-it territory, riding off a cheeky cowbell riff that wouldn’t sound out of place on a DFA record circa 2002. Its precise house groove can’t help but lack some of the rhythmic fluidity of his earlier ‘Tongue Riddim’ release though, as limb-flailing acrobatics are substituted for head-nods to a tight four-to-the-floor pulse.